


looking forward

by justsomejerk



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Gen, Minor Isabel Evans/Gregory Manes, Past Malex, Sibling Bonding, background forlex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25495375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justsomejerk/pseuds/justsomejerk
Summary: Greg wants to hear more about Alex's relationships with Michael and Forrest; in return, Alex gets the details on what exactly is going on between his brother and Isobel Evans.
Relationships: Alex Manes & Gregory Manes
Comments: 10
Kudos: 36





	looking forward

Greg has been spending far more time with Isobel Evans than Alex is comfortable with. God knows he understands the pull of an alien and how they smell of a fresh cleansing rain, but the way he and Isobel bow their heads so close together at Alex and Forrest’s backyard barbecues is becoming downright conspiratorial. With Greg being pulled into the circle of alien trust recently, he’s concerned he may fall under the spell of an alien with a well-known history of messing with human minds out of a misguided sense of self-preservation. 

When their weekly gathering is over and Forrest has been ordered by his aunt via text to pick up Wyatt from the drunk tank, Alex and Greg are drying dishes together in his kitchen and he decides to ask.

“So. You and Isobel Evans. What’s going on there?” He waggles his eyebrows mischievously in his brother’s direction. “You spend a lot of time huddled in corners whispering to one another.” He can see from the tinge of pink that blooms across Greg’s cheeks he’s onto something. 

“I don’t know, man. She’s just- there are some things she thought I could help her with.”

That’s not the answer Alex was expecting. “What does that mean? Is that some sort of straight people sex slang I haven’t heard of?”

Greg barks out a laugh, nearly fumbling the glass he’s been drying in the process. “Uh, no. I promise I will never rub my heterosexuality in your face, bro. I know how painful that would be.” Alex gives him a soft punch to the shoulder as they both chuckle. Greg shakes his head slightly before continuing. “But it’s nothing. Really.”

Alex knows he’s lying, but he chooses to drop it for now. It’s not that he doesn’t like Isobel. He actually thinks they could be really close friends under different circumstances, and the spark between her and Greg is palpable. But since he and Forrest started dating, he’s been keeping his distance from Michael, and from alien complications at large. He’s heard vague reports from Kyle about the way Michael, Isobel and Max are digging deeper into their power and their history, and after so long immersed in that world himself, it’s been a relief to spend his nights curled up with Forrest on the couch watching mindless TV. They write songs together, have brain-melting sex on his piano bench on sunny afternoons, and every few weeks, spend nights downing shots and dancing at Planet 7 with Kyle, Steph, Jenna and Charlie. Life is  _ good.  _

But Alex knows better than most people that circumstances can change in a single moment. 

He’s scared of rocking the boat. This calm, this good he’s experiencing? It could all go away if he does something wrong. It usually does. 

And for the first time in his life, he has so much to lose. Since his father’s death, he and Greg have gotten so much closer. They visit each other on weekends every few weeks, and have established a regular text chain with their brothers full of memes and teasing. Flint has started coming around – while Alex likes to think it was mostly him and Greg’s influence, he has to acknowledge that waking up in a hospital overwhelmed by a psychic connection to Max Evans through a glowing handprint, and the subsequent private conversations between him and Max that followed, played a big role too. Steph got better and Kyle is happier than he has been in a long time, despite becoming evasive when anyone inquires about her miraculous recovery. 

Even Michael has been oddly nice. Alex can tell he’s on his best behaviour – probably lingering guilt from having spent the past few years taking a lot of his anger and bitterness out on Alex simply because he could – and he’s grateful. He had a nagging fear that Michael would react badly to his relationship with Forrest – maybe not with jealousy, but suspicion at least, and it’s comforting to know Michael has grown past that sort of thing. 

It seems if Alex changes any little detail about this delicate balance he’s achieved, everything may be thrown into chaos. It was bad enough when Flint’s alien-related ramblings in the hospital led to Greg asking Kyle about a potential psych evaluation, which in itself led to them frantically calling Max to the hospital and him reciting the truth to his slack-jawed brother.  _ That _ somehow only allowed him and Greg to become even closer, but the idea of his and Michael’s families becoming entangled even further sets his teeth on edge. 

After a few minutes finishing off their task, Alex grabs them a couple beers and he takes a seat to get off his leg for a few minutes. He sees the deep breath Greg takes, and knows something serious is coming.

“So. How are things going with Forrest?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Uh, you know how things are with Forrest – pretty much amazing. I can barely find a flaw in him. Why?”

Greg bites his lip and scratches at the label on his beer. “I guess I’m just wondering what happened with Michael.” Alex frowns. No one has asked him about Michael at all, not since Maria’s uncomfortable visit the day of Max’s heart transplant. He can feel a pit of anxiety churning in his stomach at the mere thought of digging into this right now, when he was feeling so relaxed. “I really like Forrest, it’s just a bit confusing that after all of that shit went down with dad and Flint, them taking you to get to Michael. It seemed like it would make sense for you and him to work things out.”

Shaking his head, Alex leans back on the couch and takes a long sip from his beer to avoid answering. He hopes Greg will forget about it and change the subject if he lets the silence become awkward, but he is a stubborn bastard and Alex will have to engage. “I don’t really know what to tell you. Things with Michael have always been so complicated. As much as he means to me, we aren’t really good for each other.”

Greg considers this for a long moment, shifts on the couch to see Alex better. “Did you know my longest relationship lasted 2 months?”

Seems like a non sequitur, but Alex has noticed this is how conversations with Greg usually proceed nowadays. They have had a lot of catching up to do after being absent from each others’ lives for years, so they’re continually filling in the gaps with seemingly random stories they would have shared long ago, had circumstances been different. “Really? What about you and that redhead from your Instagram? That seemed like it lasted awhile.”

“That wasn’t a relationship. She wanted it to be, but I was never really  _ in _ it, you know? Look, the point is that none of us were ever taught how to love or be loved. We don’t know what healthy relationships look like, cause we didn’t have any to look up to. And you had it worse, with the way dad targeted you. And then, well. I know he was responsible for Michael’s hand.” Alex’s eyes widen and he opens his mouth to interrupt but Greg hurries to explain. “I overheard you on the phone with Michael once that summer. The next day, I followed you. I was going to tell you to end it, that dad would hurt you both if you didn’t stop. But when I found you, you were sitting in the back of his truck playing guitar and laughing and you both just looked  _ so _ happy. I’ve never seen anyone look so in sync with another person before, or since. I think about that sometimes, the way you two looked together. You were good for each other then, and you could be again.”

Leaning back on the couch, Alex looks at his brother thoughtfully for a few moments, taking in his declarations. 

In the end, he simply shrugs. “All of those years, coming back to see him, leaving again? I always thought I was, I don’t know, working my way back to him. Winning out over dad, like eventually I would be powerful enough to tell him to his face that I love a man and he can’t change that. I thought I was getting ready to be with Michael. I don’t believe that anymore.”

“You don’t love him anymore?”

“I will always love Michael. He’s family, and there will always be things we understand about each other that no one else can. But everything I’ve done.. it was for me, not for him. You know that song I sang?”

Greg beams. “Of course. I thought for sure you and Michael would work things out after he saw that.”

Alex smiles sadly. “I didn’t write it for him. I mean, I wrote it  _ about _ him. And maybe in a different life it could have been a new beginning for us, but that’s never what I wrote it to be. I just needed to get it out. For so long, we were like this dark secret we were keeping from the world. That song was like a way of looking at us the way I did when I was seventeen. Seeing that it wasn’t all just trauma and pain, but something beautiful, even if it’s over.” 

Greg watches for a while as Alex smiles to himself, looks down. 

“Eventually you have to put the past to bed. It was just time for me. And I’d already met Forrest before all of it happened, so...” Alex’s eyes brighten when he speaks his boyfriend’s name, and he bites his lip with a slight blush before continuing. “You know, he’s the first person in a really long time to make me feel good about myself. I didn’t even know I was missing that.” 

And at those words, Greg looks at Alex again, really  _ looks _ at him. 

They haven’t been around each other this often since they were teenagers, so he figures that might be why he missed it. 

The way Alex seems lighter when Forrest is around, when he talks about him. He’s always liked how earnest and direct his brother’s boyfriend was, but he couldn’t see until this moment just how genuinely happy he makes Alex. He supposes it may be because he’s never seen his brother quite so unburdened. For as long as he can remember, his little brother’s eyes have been a little haunted, yet Greg has used that youthful moment he witnessed years ago as his only barometer to measure against.

And he ended up missing the uncomplicated peace his brother recently found.

Maybe Greg should listen to his own advice and recognize that maybe  _ he _ can’t even see a healthy relationship when it’s right in front of him, either. 

“I’m really happy for you.” He reaches out and squeezes Alex’s shoulder. Alex’s smile reminds him of why he asked in the first place, though, and he figures he should spill. “Um, I should probably tell you something then. Part of the reason Isobel and I have been spending so much time together is because she’s convinced you and Michael belong together and we need to do something about it.”

He tenses with Greg’s hand still on his shoulder. “Do something about it?”

Greg chuckles nervously and retracts his hand to continue picking at the label of his beer. “Yeah, she wants to toss your blue-haired boyfriend to the curb.”

“So what, you guys were gonna Parent Trap us or something?”

“I wasn’t going along with it! I mean, I  _ did _ offer some insight and maybe an idea or two-”

“Greg!”

“She has the most distracting eyes, okay? How am I supposed to remember that it’s wrong to scheme against my own brother’s happiness when a legend like Isobel Evans is looking at me like she needs me?”

Alex side-eyes his fond tone. “Oh my god, you’re trying to sleep with her even though she’s trying to mess with my relationship?”

Greg at least has the sense to appear guilty at the question, but he doesn’t deny it. “Look, I know she’s ruthless and maybe not always the most considerate, but the way she looks when she talks about you guys or Max and Liz...I think she really believes there is something special about relationships between humans and her people. She gets this dreamy look when she talks about it-”

“Oh God. You don’t just want to sleep with her, you actually really like her, don’t you? You want to be the reason for that  _ dreamy look  _ of hers!” He knows the teasing is juvenile, but he figures they missed out on that when they were younger, and they should get to make up for it now. 

Greg laughs and raises his arms in lighthearted defeat. “I really do, man. It’s stupid how much I like her. And I think she might actually be into me too.”

Alex rolls his eyes and finishes his beer. As he pushes himself up off the couch, he tosses a comment over his shoulder. “As long as you can seduce her into backing the hell off and leaving my relationship alone, you should both come to Planet 7 this Friday. I think this is the night we finally get Kyle to do Taylor Swift at karaoke the way we all know he secretly wants to.”

“I promise I’ll talk her out of it! I’ll explain. She’ll get it.” Alex rolls his eyes at the insistence in his brother’s voice just as his phone vibrates in his pocket. He sees Forrest’s name flash up on the screen and he answers with a smile. 

“Hey. Everything go okay with Wyatt?”

“Yeah, it was the same old. I was just wondering how needy it would seem if I did the 45 minute drive again just to stay over when I know you need to be up at 5 am?” His tone is wry, and Alex can easily imagine the way his thick fingers are curled around his phone, the way his other hand is probably softly drumming a beat on the steering wheel, the overhead light in his car bringing out the little flecks of green in his brown eyes. 

He laughs and bites his lip, already missing him though they kissed goodbye only two hours ago. “Just needy enough. Come back.”

“Be there soon.” 

As Alex ends the call, Greg clears his throat and goes to himself from the couch. “I should probably head out, give you two some privacy.”

“What are you talking about? Stay.”

“No, you guys have been entertaining all day-”

“Greg. You don’t seriously think I’m going to let you leave my house without listing in detail every single thing you told Isobel about me and Forrest, right?”

At that, he lets himself slump back into the couch cushions, clearly lacking the motivation to drive back to the reservation tonight anyway. “That’s fair.”

“Not yet it isn’t.” Alex’s eyes hold a devious glint as he grabs his laptop from the counter and settles across from his brother, already typing. “New plan. Isobel needs to learn that the world doesn’t revolve around the wants and needs of their alien posse. You are going to text her and say you’re in, and you’ll be putting the plan into motion this Friday at Planet 7. You, me and Forrest are gonna trick her into thinking she’s succeeding.”

Greg’s eyes grow comically wide as he realizes what Alex is saying. “No! Absolutely not. That’s the woman I want to surprise with flowers and take on cheesy dates,  _ and _ one day hopefully see very, very naked. I’ll ask her to apologize instead-”

Alex dismisses his brother’s objections with a wave of his hand and goes back to staring at his screen, where Greg strongly suspects he has already started a spreadsheet. “This is actually perfect. She’s used to winning; she’ll be impressed if you actually pull one over on her. It’ll show you can keep up.”

“Something tells me you’re less concerned about my chances with Isobel than you are just really excited at the prospect of some very well-planned revenge.” 

At that, his gaze flickers up and he responds deadpan, “It’s called sibling bonding, Greg.”

He barked a laugh and shifts on the couch to sit beside Alex. “Well, when you put it like  _ that, _ move over. There is bonding to be done.”


End file.
